Pinnick in 1945
James Pinnick (1923-2005) was a US Army private first class who served in the US 77th Infantry Division during the Second World War. He was one of Corporal Desmond Doss's friends that he served with since boot camp. During the Battle of Okinawa, Pinneck was one of the 75 men who was saved by Doss during the Media Escapement.
Biography[]
James Pinneck was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1923 to a family a Scottish descent. In 1942, he joined the United States Army so he provided his family and wife. Pinnick attended boot camp at Fort Jackson, South Carolina under the command of Sergeant Vincent Howell. As the everyone including Pinnick complete boot camp they were assigned to the US 77th Infantry Division and deployed to the Pacific Theater fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army. In late April of 1945, The 77th landed on Okinawa after having R&R after fight in Guam and Leyte, thy is informed that it will relieve the US 96th Infantry Division, which was tasked with ascending and securing the Maeda Escarpment ("Hacksaw Ridge"). However on May 5th, 1945, the fighting intensified to the point that all men were ordered to retreat after a group of soldiers blew up a cave filled with ammo, thus the Japanese launched a massive counterattack and drove the Americans off the escarpment but Howell, Pinnick, Milton Zane and others are left behind wounded on the battlefield.
Being Saved[]
Pinnick being saved by Doss.
As Desmond Doss spent the entire night rescuing wounded soldiers he saw Pinnick who survived the counterattack started firing his M1 Garand on the ground but Doss stopped him form alerting any Japanese troops. In Doss's interview in 2003 he stated that when he saw Pinnick, his face was cover blood and mud so he grab his canteen and a couple bandages and wiped his face and then his eyes lit up and said "I thought I was blind", to this day till before he passed Doss stated that "if I hadn't got anything more out of the war than that smile he gave me, I'd have been well repaid". Pinnick was lowered down the escarpment but decide to go back to Hacksaw Ridge to get back. He and Pfc. Richard "Lucky Ford" Gibson lowered Doss from the cliff clutching after the Bible that his wife Dorothy had given to him.
Later Life[]
After the war, Pinnick lost in touch with his friends and worked as a lawyer before he died in 2005 from cancer.